Although Jacob deGrom, Matt Harvey and Noah Syndergaard started four of the seven games, GM Sandy Alderson notes that all three have matured significantly since the first half of the season. "I think that our young (pitchers) are a little more experienced, a little better command, more confidence," Alderson said. "From that standpoint, we're in a better position."

The Cubs might not even recognize the lineup the Mets throw at them Saturday night. Daniel Murphy, Lucas Duda, Curtis Granderson and Wilmer Flores were the only four players to play all seven games against the Cubs. After that quartet, the players with the most at-bats in the season series were Ruben Tejada, Kevin Plawecki, Michael Cuddyer, John Mayberry and Dilson Herrera.

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In other words, the Cubs didn't actually face the team that they'll see in the coming days. David Wright, Yoenis Cespedes, Travis d'Arnaud and Michael Conforto had a grand total of zero at-bats in those seven games, yet they'll make up one-half of the starting lineup for the majority of the NLCS.

"Offensively it's a different team; not totally but significantly," Alderson said. "So I don't think that 0-7 registers much concern on the part of our players, but we certainly have to turn that around. We'd like to be 4-10 at the end of this with the Cubs."

The Mets' lineup might look a lot different, but the Cubs' four postseason starters — Jon Lester, Jake Arrieta, Kyle Hendricks and Jason Hammel — took the ball in six of those seven games, combining for a 4-0 record and 1.26 ERA in those outings.

Unlike their series against the Cardinals — a team that beat them 11 times in 19 games this season — the Cubs will take the field Saturday with a little more confidence knowing they had so much success against the Mets earlier in the year.

Cubs' Kris Bryant hits a two-run home run off Jacob deGrom in that May 11 loss. (Charles Rex Arbogast/AP)

"It does add that confidence; you know you've beaten this team," Lester said. "There is always that question mark when you face the Cardinals, can we beat these guys? You have that little bit of doubt. Here, I think it adds maybe a little bit of comfort, knowing that we have beaten them. At the same time, we can't come in here knowing that we're 7-0 and we're going to walk through this thing. We have to be on our toes and play good baseball against this team."

The Mets need only look at their own history to know the insignificance of a lopsided season series. In 1988, the Mets won 10 of 11 regular-season meetings against the Dodgers, then lost a seven-game NLCS to Los Angeles.

DeGrom had two of his shortest starts of the season against the Cubs, going only 5 and 5.1 innings in a pair of losses. Syndergaard allowed three runs over 5.1 innings at Wrigley in his big-league debut, while Harvey had the only strong start of the trio, tossing seven scoreless innings in a no-decision in Chicago.

"I think we've developed so much as a team," Harvey said. "We've obviously added a lot of key parts, and we've really grown. I don't think any of us have really looked towards any series in the past."

Although the differences aren't as glaring, the Cubs' lineup features some new names as well. Neither Kyle Schwarber nor Javier Baez appeared against the Mets this season, while Jorge Soler played only four of the seven games.

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Jason Hammel delivers with Daniel Murphy on third during a May 13 game in Chicago. (Charles Rex Arbogast/AP)

"We've got a lot of work ahead," manager Terry Collins said. "They've got a few new guys, but we're still going to see Jon Lester and Jake Arrieta, who are two very, very good pitchers. We just went through that with the Dodgers, so we've got to get ourselves ready."

Aside from a pair of 6-1 wins, the Cubs' other five victories came in four one-run games and a 2-0 win. As far as Cubs manager Joe Maddon is concerned, most of those games could have gone either way.

"I take zero stock in that whatsoever, honestly," Maddon said of the season sweep. "We won some close games; things just happened to work in our favor in those moments. Their offense wasn't nearly what it is right now, so I'm not even looking at that as being pertinent.

"The only thing that matters is we know we can beat them. They know they can beat us based on what they've gone through to this particular moment. So I don't think there is any real weight to be attached to that whatsoever."